Competitive Keyword Advertising Lawsuit Survives Motion to Dismiss–Elcometer v. TCQ-USA
By Eric Goldman Elcometer, Inc. v. TQC-USA, Inc., 2013 WL 1433388 (E.D. Mich. April 9, 2013) There are so many competitive keyword advertising lawsuits that I can’t track them systematically, but I’ll still blog them when I see them. The…
New Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic and Director Announced at Santa Clara University School of Law [SCU Press Release]
By Eric Goldman [This is a project I’ve been working on for years, so I’m delighted to finally share the news. The press release issued by the school this morning:] New Entrepreneur’s Law Clinic and Director Announced at Santa Clara…
Google Immunized for Its Search Results–Mmubango v. Google (Catch-up Post)
By Eric Goldman Mmubango v. Google, Inc., 2013 WL 664231 (E.D. Pa. February 22, 2013). The initial complaint. This is one of the many bogus pro se lawsuits over Google search results. Like the others, it goes nowhere (though the…
A Judge Hopes Mark Zuckerberg Enjoys His Money Because “He’s Going to Hurt a Lot of People”–US v. Culver
By Eric Goldman United States v. Laura Culver, 2013 WL 1110647 (2nd Cir. March 19, 2013) This case involves a horrible crime of child pornography involving an 8 year old. For more background, see the DOJ press release and the…
Online Trespass to Chattels Needs Structural Reform (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In light of Aaron Swartz’s tragic suicide, there has been a lot of discussion–some productive, some not–about reforming the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (the “CFAA”). I support some of the reform proposals, but they don’t go…
Product Review Website Defeats Trademark Claims–Boarding School Review v. Delta Career Education
By Eric Goldman Boarding School Review, LLC v. Delta Career Education Corp., 1:11-cv-08921-DAB (SDNY March 29, 2013) This case involves Community College Review, with the tagline “find the right community college for you.” It publishes information about various community colleges…
More Confirmation That Google Has Won the AdWords Trademark Battles Worldwide (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman I’ve repeatedly asserted that the trademark battles over keyword advertising are near the end. As further evidence of that, recently Google ($GOOG) liberalized its international trademark policy for advertising via AdWords. Previously, Google allowed trademark owners…
Why Google’s Commitment Letter to the FTC Isn’t Commercial Speech (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Josh King [Eric’s introduction: Josh King is Vice President, Business Development & General Counsel at Avvo. Among other ways we work together, he’s a fellow board member of Public Participation Project, which is advocating for a federal…
The Supreme Court’s Kirtsaeng Ruling Is Good News for Consumers, but the First Sale Doctrine Is Still Doomed–Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, No. 11–697 (U.S. Supreme Court March 19, 2013). Prior blog post of the Second Circuit ruling in the case. In Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons ($JW-A), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled…
Minnesota’s Proposed Anti-Trademark Bullying Statute Misses the Mark (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Leah Chan Grinvald Last April, Minnesota became the first state in the U.S. to introduce anti-trademark bullying legislation with the proposal of H.F. 2996. The proposed “Small Business Trademark Protection Act” had a whole host of problems,…